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Utah Wildfire Started Accidentally

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 August 2008, 21:00 CDT

A brush fire in Utah that has burned hundreds of acres and forced evacuation of 60 houses was started by human carelessness, officials said Tuesday.

The Corner Canyon fire in Draper near Salt Lake City began Monday, ABC4.com reported. Investigators said they had determined where and how the fire started, although they had not made that information public, but not who was responsible.

"At this point we can say it was not an arson fire, we do not believe the person started it on purpose," said Kathy Jo Pollock, a spokeswoman for the Inter-Agency Fire Agency.

If investigators find the person who started the fire, he or she could end up paying the cost of fighting it. By Tuesday morning, about 800 acres had burned.

A mandatory evacuation was ordered for several hours Monday. One hiker trapped by the fire was rescued by helicopter.

Elsewhere in Utah, the Lonesome Pine fire was about 30 percent contained Tuesday after consuming 560 acres northwest of Eureka, while the Gate Narrow fire east of Terra was about 10 percent contained, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Three other fires in wild lands with no buildings were being allowed to burn themselves out, KSL.com reported.

Source: United Press International

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